The failure of the 10-month inquiry into the miscarriage misdiagnosis scandal to hold anyone accountable has been sharply criticised by the chairperson of the HSE West’s Regional Health Forum, Cllr Padraig Conneely.
He was commenting in the wake of the publication of the report into the baby scan errors, some of which took place at University Hospital Galway and which hit the headlines last June.
Some 409 cases were reviewed nationally as part of the inquiry - 18 women were found to have been wrongly diagnosed with miscarriages since 2006. Twenty-two women went on to give birth despite the misdiagnosis. The Advertiser understands at least two of those were Galway women - the identity of the mothers and their locations were not revealed in the report for confidentiality reasons.
Speaking to this newspaper Cllr Conneely insisted the names of the staff and hospitals involved should have been revealed. He also stated second ultrasound scans should be provided in suspected miscarriage cases.
“This report certainly does not make pretty reading,” said the former Fine Gael mayor. “One line jumped out at me. It said that 79 per cent of health professionals who made a false diagnosis were consultants or registrars. That is alarming. We are at the mercy of these consultants. Where can you go when you have consultants telling you something like this?
“I feel the report should have named the staff and hospitals involved. Nobody is held accountable. Those who signed off on these decisions have not been identified.”
He outlined the report attributed lack of adequate training and over reliance on ultrasound for women being erroneously told their unborn babies were dead.
He applauded the “brave” women who followed their instincts and insisted on second scans despite being wrongly told they had suffered miscarriages.
“I applaud these ordinary women who trusted their own instincts and spoke out. They challenged the medical system. They were the experts, these pregnant women who by their own judgment were ahead of the consultants and the ultrasound system. They have brought change to the system and saved their children’s lives. Their own instincts were better than the professional advice they got. We wouldn’t have known about this at all only for these brave women.”
Cllr Conneely said he hoped the hospitals at the centre of the controversy, including University Hospital Galway, did not wait until this report was published to take action to prevent a recurrance of the scan blunders of last year.
While the HSE nationally has initiated training for relevant staff, and all ultrasound equipment over five years is to be replaced, Cllr Conneely said there were still questions to be asked.
“What has happened since these errors first came to light 10 months ago? When is this detailed regime of training taking place and what happens meanwhile? Pregnancy does not wait for training to be put in place. People meet their consultants today, tomorrow and the next day.
“As UHG is one of the biggest maternity hospitals in the country I’d like to see what regime is in place. I will be putting down very detailed questions at the next health forum meeting, it is important to assure people and allay fears. Their confidence in the system must have been shattered by this and it must be restored. We are supposed to have a professional system and it is a bad road to have gone down to allow uncertainty to creep in.
“I fear the report into the scandal will be left aside when all this dies down. I will be seeking a cast iron guarantee that the HSE and the consultants are 100 per cent committed to change and can back this up by a system that works for women. It is shameful it could not be relied on beforehand to do this and that unborn babies’ lives were put at risk.”
